USSOCOM Commander Says US Cannot Rely on Taliban to Fight ISIS in Afghanistan

U.S. Army Lieutenant General Richard D. Clarke (L), Director for Strategy, Plans, and Policy of the Joint Staff, arrives at a closed briefing before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, on Jan. 10, 2019. Alex Wong/Getty Images

The head of U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) said on Nov. 19 that the ISIS-K terrorist threat in Afghanistan “still exists” and he doesn’t believe the United States can rely upon the Taliban’s newly formed government as a partner against this threat.

“I don’t see them as a partner,” USSOCOM Gen. Richard Clarke said of the Taliban terrorist group, pointing out that there still remains an ISIS threat across regions in Afghanistan and it is growing, Defense One reported.